- Emory- Emory is the hands down favorite for the title this year. They only lost on contributor in their run last year and have gained a top 10 national player in Chris Goodwin. Together the Goodwins have proven to be a great doubles team and Michael Goodwin's record in important team dual matches has been quite impressive to say the least. If they are to lose it will be a result of their 2/3 doubles teams and their 4/5/6 players. Projected lineup. 1. M. Goodwin 2. C. Goodwin 3. Boren 4. Egan 5. Caplan 6. Lopp Doubles: 1. Goodwins 2. Lopp/Caplan 3. Boren/Alexander
- Wash U- The defending champions lost NO ONE from their title run. However, they have failed to recruit any players that will make their singles or doubles lineups. The play of Watts and Cutler in pressure matches should decide the fate of this team. They are the deepest team in the country and have the strongest 4/5/6 as well. A great 1 team in Cutler/Hoeland along with a great 2 in Woods/Stein will be essential to their success. A rematch against Emory should prove to be one of dual matches of the season. Projected lineup. 1. Watts 2. Cutler 3. Woods 4. Levy 5. Hoeland 6. Stein. Doubles. 1. Cutler Hoeland 2. Stein/Woods 3. Watts/Bowman or Chormadia
- CMS- This team always looks amazing on paper but has had unfortunate experiences with injuries. No one has seen what a healthy Stags team can do and hopefully they'll be able to show that they can do. It will be interesting to see if Starr can get back to normal health after having an ACL tear and wrist injury the last 2 seasons. This team is arguably just as deep as Wash U but they lack a real killer at the 1 singles position. Their 2-6 will be extremely tough if they are healthy, but they can be beaten in doubles. If they can shore up their doubles they are real contenders. Projected lineup. 1. Wang 2. Lim 3. E. MacColl 4. Starr 5. Erani 6. Wu Doubles. 1. Schils/Wang 2. MacColl/Erani 3. Lim/Wu
- UC Santa Cruz- This team has its core component back for another year and they are hungry to get out of the West by beating CMS. They are one of the most talented teams in the country but have some inconsistent players. However, they had a great fall and look to be in great form coming into the season. Projected lineup. 1. Kamel 2. Liberty-Point 3. Pybas 4. Mark-Griffin 5. Ortiz 6. Chiba Doubles lineup. Same as last year
- Kenyon- Kenyon returns the majority of its players and gains a great player in Piskacek. Their loss to Amherst makes me question whether these high expectations have affected them. Mike Greenberg was spectacular last season but must reassert himself as the dominant force once again. They have players that have big games but only time will tell if they can mesh together to be the title contenders that many predict they can be. Projected lineup. 1. Greenberg 2. Piskacek 3. Brody 4. Becker 5. Vandenberg 6. Polster Doubles. 1. Greenberg/Piskacek 2. Brody/Becker 3. Polster/Vandenberg
6-10 coming early next week.
All 5 of these teams will be at the National Indoors. So we should see how accurate you picks really are from 1-5. 6 through 10 could be almost all New England Teams. Glad you got this going again.
ReplyDeleteDuring the end of February, and early March, CMS plays Gustavus (at Gustavus), Kenyon, Mary Washington, Emory, Middlebury, Williams, and likely Amherst -- so we'll get a great sense of who's where in the rankings. I think that CMS is better in doubles than you are suggesting however, returning the defending national champs in Schils/Wang and returns the very successful #3 team in Wu/Starr (if Coach Settles keeps them together). Eric MacCall is a great returner and played great doubles in '08.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know a little more about Piscacek if anyone out there has seen him play.
ReplyDeleteDon, sorry to disagree with you but I think in terms of the best teams CMS' doubles aren't really too threatening. Schils/Wang are a great team but are fairly streaky. No offense, but Wu/Starr are not a threatening 3 team at all based on their records.
ReplyDeletelook for kenyon to change up their doubles teams, greenberg and piskacek did much success playing together against amherst, losing 8-0
ReplyDelete